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Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who know her boldly queer and brash movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator the talented actress—can already know that Sennott possesses much to share, be it about gender, intimacy, or the pros of forming a high-school combat group. And, after watching her recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional thoughts on the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling different age groups).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and fledgling representative Maia. Notably, the biggest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The concept for the series emerged—in part—from her own, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. That period marked a phase that included her learn some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Brought up in the East Coast, the star began creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Anyone who had doubts about her previously will likely be feeling foolish now. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip titled on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to produce a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged twentysomething life that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.

Nuanced Portrayal

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “I think that young people have been through a lot – I’m mostly thinking of people younger than me, like my little sister, who went to college during Covid, so she had to come home, or my other sister who was doing school online.”|“The younger generation has faced significant